TresSugar

Congress Considers Bill to Spur Volunteerism

CitizenSugar — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 13:00:02 -0700

The House of Representatives will vote on the Give Act today, which would triple the size of AmeriCorps and create four other service programs. The new Corps would be:

The Clean Energy Corps
The Education Corps
The Healthy Futures Corps
The Veterans Service Crops

The bill also increases the amount of money volunteers, like the ones Michelle Obama hung out with yesterday, receive toward education.

Supporters of the bill say that America's service infrastructure needs a critical boost. Plus, if we can get volunteers to focus energy toward crucial projects, it might save money. According to some analysis each dollar invested in AmeriCorp yields a $4 return.

But critics say it would just throw money at the idea of giving back. And jobless Americans already seem excited about the idea of giving back and gaining skills.

So what about you? Do you favor this bill?

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Picture It: Service With a Smile

CitizenSugar — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:00:54 -0800

Michelle Obama volunteered at Miriam's Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides case management, housing support, and meals to homeless people in DC. Yesterday's meal was donated by the White House in a new effort to highlight the work of local nonprofits. The first lady urged Americans to donate food and, if that's out of reach, time.

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On the Newsstand: Time Magazine's 21 Ways to Serve America

CitizenSugar — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 06:00:36 -0700

Hot on the heels of last week's candidates' service forum, Time magazine has an issue devoted to "21 Ways to Fix Up America."

The best bit is the 21 item "User's Guide," filled with tips, tidbits, and pieces from everyone from Ted Kennedy advocating for his Serve America Act to Miley Cyrus on starting young, the list is full of unique ways to volunteer. If you've got time to spare, here are five ways you can serve America too:

Citizen Schools:
The program has 3,200 adult volunteers running after-school programs for 4,500 kids at middle schools in 21 cities. Projects include building solar cars, and trying out their legal skills in mock trials.
Day of Service:
Giving just one day, this year on Sept. 27, the ServiceNation coalition is hosting more than 1,600 service events planned across all 50 states.
Start Young Says Miley Cyrus:
It's never too early to serve: "My family has been visiting Kentucky coal-mine towns since I was little. We take clothes, gifts and school supplies. It's an eye opener for me, seeing families here in America living in Third World conditions."

To see other ways to give back, read more.

The Taproot Foundation:
This organization helps connect talented professionals with nonprofits in need of their talent.
Locks of Love:
Nonprofits like Locks of Love and Wigs for Kids make wigs and hairpieces for kids who have lost their hair because of cancer treatments or medical conditions. If your ponytail is at least 10 inches long, you're a candidate.

The whole list is packed with ways to give. Which one could fit into your schedule?

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The How-To Lounge: Giving Back

DearSugar — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 13:00:00 -0700

Everyday growing up my mom would ask me if I had done something kind for another person. And although I always thought answering that question was a real drag, over time I found that I looked for ways to help people so I’d have something to share with her. While I’d like to say I still do this, the truth is sometimes I get so caught up in the worries of my everyday life I forget that there’s a whole bevy of serious issues out there plaguing the world. If you’re like me and looking for an opportunity to give back and do some real good, then just read more.

If you have some money to spend, but not a lot of time, donating to a charity is a great way to give back. There are so many wonderful charities always in need of donations. Check JustGive.org to see listings for various causes that might interest you.
Your local community is probably rife with non-profit organizations looking for support. I’ve spent time volunteering in elementary schools, and for an hour or two a week, it’s an absolutely gratifying experience. Check online or even on fliers in coffee shops for what’s going on in your own neck of the woods.
Consider using your particular skill set to help out a cause. If you’re into graphic design, offer to design a pamphlet for a group you care about. If you’re a fabulous writer, look into opportunities for writing grants. Not only does this let you do something good, it’s also great for your resume.
Start something on your own. If you want to do something on a smaller scale, come up with a small goal and get a group together to accomplish it. Start a giving tree at your office or ask all your friends to adopt-a-family at the holidays.
If you just don’t have the gusto to go big right now, even the smallest things in your life can make a world of difference in someone else’s. Consider donating your old shoes and your excess pantry goods, always recycle, and finally, don’t forget how far just a bit of compassion and kindness can go.

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Big Night! The Candidate Service Forum and Palin's Interview

CitizenSugar — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 07:36:22 -0700

It was a night of embarrassing political-TV riches: Sarah Palin's much anticipated interview with Charlie Gibson and the McCain/Obama Service Forum at Columbia University. Oh, where to start? Let's say ladies first (can we say that?) Sarah Palin's interview is being sliced and diced everywhere, from your comments, to comparing her environmental statements then and now, to giving her an overall thumbs up for looking, "resolute, confident, and in command of the subject matter."

Though Gibson was hand-selected to be the first to have a crack at grilling Palin, he didn't hold back in variety of subject. From the Bush Doctrine to invading Russia, it was all covered. When Gibson asked Palin if she hesitated over her level of experience when McCain asked her aboard the Straight Talk Express, Palin said:

I didn’t hesitate, no. . .I answered him yes, because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink. So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.

If you missed the first batch, tonight's 20/20 has an hour-long special starting at 10 p.m.

And what were the candidates up to? A back-to-back forum on public service at Columbia University. How did it go? I'll tell you both sides, but let's just say I changed my email "status" message to "John McCain gives good forum." To see the scoop, read more.

Sitting down, much in the fashion of the Saddleback Forum last month, the two candidates answered questions on service in front of a 1,000 member audience that included students, celebrities, relatives of 9/11 victims and Joe Biden.

John McCain used the opportunity to lament how different the campaign could have been if he and Obama were traveling together, doing a series of town halls. After frank talk about his relationship with service and the draft, McCain said:

Volunteer organizations that are completely separate from the government - have nothing to do with the government - are amongst the most successful. So let's not get entrapped by the idea that the government has to run these voluntary organizations.

Obama came through with specifics saying:

I believe firmly that government should expand the avenues of opportunity. I want to create an energy corps, a clean energy corps that can mobilize individual citizens to help create greater energy efficiency in our country. I want to mobilize seniors to get involved with their schools or local hospitals and health clinics. There's going to be a whole range of ways to do it. Some of it is going to cost money, but mostly it requires government providing these opportunities and avenues.

Did you catch either TV event? What did you think?

Thank You For Being a Friend? Miami Has the Least Volunteers

CitizenSugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 06:00:28 -0700

Though the quintessential Miamian, the late Sophia Petrillo, might disapprove -the Southern city has just been found at the bottom of the friendly heap. Miami comes in dead last in a study of volunteerism in 50 major US cities. Possible causes for the falloff could include traffic, an exploding number of new immigrants, or the better offer of time on the beach.

Miami might be last, but nationally the US isn't doing so well either; the volunteerism rate fell last year for the second year in a row to about 26 percent. Miami's volunteer rate is 14.5 percent. Who's best at giving back? Minneapolis-St. Paul, at a solid 39 percent. Stellar states include Utah, Nebraska, and Alaska with New York, Florida, and Nevada on the bottom tier.

The chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service says, "with more people in need - losing houses, losing jobs - there are more people to serve. You have fewer people helping and more people needing help."

Both Obama and McCain have stressed the need for public service in this campaign - is volunteerism just the balm we need to soothe these challenging times? What kind of catalyst will it take to spark an upward trend in service? Do you give back?

Teach For America Gets Surge of Wannabe Volunteer Teachers

LibertySugar — Wed, 14 May 2008 11:00:54 -0700

Teach For America (TFA), a nonprofit that places the best and the brightest college grads in understaffed and troubled schools for two years, is seeing a surge in applications. Next fall, 3,700 newly trained teachers will be placed in schools, up 28 percent from the year before. These teachers were chosen from an application pool of 24,700, which is 37 percent larger than the previous pool!

TFA, which was born from a Princeton graduate's college thesis, attracts graduates from the most prestigious schools. About 10 percent of graduates from schools like Yale, Harvard, and Georgetown compete for the spots. TFA is also the number one employer for graduates of Duke, Emory, NYU, and Spelman. The recent increase in interest, allows TFA to be more selective.

So why do top students want to dedicate two years to a tough, low-paying job? For an explanation, read more.

Some speculate that it is a combination prestige provided by the tough competition to be accepted and the student's commitment to community service. As it gets more difficult to volunteer with TFA, does it become an elite program?

Would TFA do more to eliminate educational inequality if it focused on recruiting and training graduates that would stay in teaching for more than two years? Or, will the enlightened outlook and immersion experience of future leaders in business and other fields benefit society and bring big-scale change? Why do you think America students are more eager to give back to the community?

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The Minutemen Adopt-a-Highway - Allowed to Keep It Clean?

CitizenSugar — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:15:12 -0700

When the San Diego Minutemen, an anti-illegal immigration group known for taking border patrol laws into their own hands became a member of Adopt-a-Highway (the keep-it-clean volunteer road service) they were quite surprised by the stretch of highway they were given. Their assigned turf was near a Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 5, a main route known for carrying illegal migrants into the United States from Mexico.

The state however has since decided to remove the sign crediting their litter patrolling. They fear demonstrators or vandals would create a safety hazard along the highway - as well as fearing harm to the Minutemen who would be clearing litter on that stretch. To see their response, read more.

The Minutemen contend otherwise. Their attorney said, “we can’t have our free speech because if we do, people who don’t like it might become unruly and unlawful.” And made a more pointed accusation by saying, “we were moved to silence our message in response to pressure from the open border advocates and the Latino caucus.” The US District Judge appeared to agree with the Minutemen on that point. “It would seem you’re saying you’re allowing the people who are unhappy with the message to dictate who can be in the program.”

The Adopt-a-Highway has had another controversial patron in the past. In 2005, the Ku Klux Klan adopted a stretch in Missouri and when the Adopt-a-Highway group tried to discontinue their membership, the Supreme Court sided with the KKK despite the Adopt-a-Highway’s regulation prohibiting groups that deny membership with a documented history of violence. State legislators - to contrast the image of a hate-based group advertising on publicly-owned land - renamed the length of highway adopted by the KKK, the Rosa Parks Highway.

In the Minutemen's case, the lawyer for the state said that the Adopt-a-Highway signs are just a "thank-you" from the state, not political messages protected under the First Amendment. If the Minutemen are doing the work of keeping the road clean, are they entitled to a sign? Was the state right to remove the sign before it caused trouble? Should controversial groups be allowed to volunteer - and get credit?

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Do-Gooders: Job Hunters Give Time and Gain Skills

CitizenSugar — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:00:08 -0700

Ever dream of living the philanthropic life - projects that matter, tax write-offs, fundraisers and galas (j/k! nobody's giving)? Now is your time. Just like Barack Obama promised!

Tired job hunters, who've found that looking for work really isn't a full-time job, are filling their time and résumés in the nonprofit, nonpaying sector. Volunteer work! Add that to the list of good things about the recession.

Because what is money, really, but "something generally accepted as a medium of exchange, a measure of value, or a means of payment"? The psychological impact of unemployment can be as bad, if not worse, than the financial impact. So it's no surprise the unemployed and weary are seeking solace by giving time. And the beneficiaries? They're thrilled to have hands and talent that they could not afford otherwise.

Volunteering may even pay off. Most nonprofit workers start off the clock, so proactive volunteers should expect to be snatched up when organizations have money to hire. I hear the government's giving it out?

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Wikipedia's Army of Volunteer Editors Are Quitting

TresSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 06:00:32 -0800

Volunteers who edit Wikipedia each day are quickly teaching the online encyclopedia that freedom and fun are crucial to the democratization of information. Burdened by complicated restrictions and uninterested in the more mundane topics (the most popular entries have already been written), volunteer editors are leaving Wikipedia faster than new ones are joining.

Wikipedia is under constant pressure to police the accuracy of its information, and that typically means leaving the moderation to millions of engaged users. That approach is fine with me, since I usually use Wikipedia to find out what everyone else knows about something; whether or not the info is true is a secondary consideration. But if less people engage in the content creation and moderation the quality of the information could go down. And that's a problem when these pages embody, and perhaps create, conventional wisdom. It's safer when there are more people who edit the entries, and thus more people who hold the power of truth (or truthiness) in their hands.

Luckily right now there are more than three million people who write, edit, and check the information, guaranteeing some level of oversight. Let's hope Wikipedia figures out how to keep them coming back. Have you ever contributed to Wikipedia?